Chapter 8: The Mutated Earth Dragon (Part 1)

Guo Shier saw clearly the panic and despair in the Earth Dragon’s eyes. The sand curtain was right in front of them. Looking down, he saw that aside from the massive amounts of yellow sand and stones, there were also streaks of black material, giving off a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere. He shouted, “Everyone, don’t move! The sand curtain is coming!”
Boom!
A suffocating shockwave hit them. Even though Guo Shier and the others were far from the sand curtain, they felt their minds shaken violently, as if the end of the world had arrived, with all their strength seemingly dissipating into thin air. Guo Shier muttered, “So powerful…” before falling into a coma.
The Earth Dragon let out a thunderous roar, but the debris beneath its feet kept rolling, preventing it from climbing further. Combined with its own weight, it had no choice but to slide downward. The terrifying sand curtain instantly covered everything.
Luo Jie shouted, “Take me back!” A martial artist with talismans helped Luo Jie leave quickly, while others used talisman shields to block in front. At the same time, Qi Nan Shan also retreated swiftly. The sand curtain surged up through the gap, and he knew it couldn’t be touched under any circumstances.
Just like waves crashing against rocks and retreating quickly after each impact, the sand curtain did the same. This extremely long cliff acted like rocks, blocking one wave of the sand curtain’s attack.
The Earth Dragon’s roars were filled with pain. Suddenly, they stopped abruptly. When the sand curtain retreated, the Earth Dragon’s body reappeared.
Guo Shier slowly regained consciousness. He felt weak all over, and his soul was in turmoil. Frightened, he immediately sat up and began reciting scriptures. There were only 167 characters in the scripture. With each character spoken, its sound spiraled into the air, spreading out in waves. His recitation was not only fast but also extremely clear.
His soul gradually calmed down as he recited the scriptures. Strangely enough, scattered souls in the air were also forcibly absorbed. After reciting three times, his soul grew stronger, much to Guo Shier’s surprise. After reciting ten times in a row, the effect became less noticeable, so he stopped.
Huo Bao and the other three were lying unconscious on the ground. Guo Shier took out a water bag and splashed water on their faces. After a while, they also woke up, each saying in horror, “It was terrifying!”
Guo Shier poked his head out to look at the Earth Dragon below the gap. After just one glance, he was stunned and exclaimed, “Damn! What is that thing? So fierce!”

The Earth Dragon lay silently at the bottom of the gap, its once massive body now emaciated to the point of being nothing but skin and bones; all the flesh seemed to have vanished. Due to its enormous size, even with only its skeleton and skin left, it remained terrifyingly imposing. Guo Shier suddenly jumped up and shouted, “Master, you’ve struck it rich!”
“Wait here!”
Guo Shier ran toward where Luo Jie was.
Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan stood at the top of the gap, quietly watching the Earth Dragon below. Hearing Guo Shier’s unrestrained shouts of “Master, you’ve struck it rich!” they couldn’t help but smile slightly. Indeed, capturing this Earth Dragon would make this expedition’s gains exceed expectations.
Mutated talisman beasts like the Earth Dragon, if intact, were something even Luo Jie and his companions would avoid at all costs. They were not creatures they could afford to provoke, despite both of them being masters. Only with a dozen or so masters and a favorable position might they possibly dare to challenge such a mutated talisman beast.
“This sand veil is filled with deathly energy. I wonder how it was formed? It was able to kill an adult Earth Dragon in just an instant. If we got trapped in it… we’d definitely never get out. What a close call!”
Even Luo Jie couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. If not for their quick thinking, they might have already died inside the sand veil.
Qi Nanshan was very cautious. He said, “Elder, keep an eye on things while I go down and check if that giant really is done for.” As a great talisman martial artist, he certainly had the qualifications to undertake the most dangerous tasks. With agile movements, he leaped down from the giant rock and rushed toward the Earth Dragon.
Luo Jie called out, “Dashan, be careful!” He released his life talisman book and remained on high alert, not even bothering to greet Guo Shier as he ran over.
Guo Shier was stunned and couldn’t help asking, “Could it be the Earth Dragon isn’t dead?”
While staying vigilant, Luo Jie replied, “Your Grandpa Nanshan will go check! We don’t know whether the Earth Dragon is alive or dead.”
Guo Shier immediately grew nervous. Even if the Earth Dragon still had a glimmer of life, it remained a formidable talisman beast. He watched Qi Nanshan closely, silently praying that the Earth Dragon was dead for sure. Moments later, he saw Qi Nanshan approach the Earth Dragon’s head—now reduced to a tiny black dot, like a person lying on the ground with a grasshopper beside their head, appearing extremely small.
Suddenly, Qi Nanshan jumped aside abruptly. The Earth Dragon slightly raised its huge head and let out a weak roar, clearly at the absolute brink of exhaustion.

Luo Jie’s expression changed slightly as he said, “Trouble ahead—that Earth Dragon is still alive… Its vitality is truly immense.” He frowned deeply. But giving up seemed a pity, so he gritted his teeth and said, “Destroy it! We must not let it recover. Once it regains its strength, we’ll have no chance again.”
“Luo Zhan, lead the Spell Warriors down to hold it off! Be careful! Watch out for its attacks.”
Luo Zhan led the Spell Warriors rushing downward quickly.
Guo Shier called out loudly, “Uncle Luo, be careful! Don’t fight head-on!”
Luo Zhan laughed heartily and said, “Don’t worry, Little Shier!”
Guo Shier turned and ran toward the cliffside gap. After all, he was also a Spellcaster with some long-range attack capabilities. He wouldn’t just stand by and watch his master and the others fight to the death while he did nothing.
Luo Jie couldn’t pay attention to Guo Shier; his focus was entirely on the Earth Dragon. Even if the dragon had only a sliver of strength left, he wouldn’t dare be careless.
Only eight Spell Warriors protected Luo Jie—Qin Nanshan and the other Spell Warriors had all gone down. The most powerful attacks came from Luo Jie, as only he had the ability to kill the Earth Dragon. Even the most skilled Spell Warrior, Qin Nanshan, found it difficult to land a fatal blow on such a massive creature.
Fortunately, the Earth Dragon was severely injured, on the verge of collapse, its vitality nearly drained by the sand veil. It struggled to lift its huge body, roaring as it tried to turn around on the rocky slope, but it was too weak. Its heavy breathing could be heard clearly even by Guo Shier on the cliff top.
Huo Bao and the others finally recovered. They stumbled over to Guo Shier, peering down. With just one glance, they were terrified. Huo Bao said, “Oh my, the Earth Dragon… How did it end up like this?”
Guo Shier replied, “It was hit by the sand veil for no more than a minute… and that’s how it became like this.”
The kids were all stunned. Chen Bing gasped and said, “It’s too monstrous… Such a huge Earth Dragon turned into a Bone Earth Dragon… Terrifying, absolutely terrifying…”
Chen Hong asked softly, “What are Grandpa Nanshan and the others doing?”
Guo Shier said, “Slaying the dragon!” Then he added, “Fortunately, it’s an Earth Dragon that’s almost dead. Otherwise… who knows who would be the one to be slain.”

The Earth Dragon struggled to turn its body, its entire frame spanning the gap, clearly trying to return to the ground. This was the perfect moment to attack—Luo Jie had been waiting for it. By the time the Earth Dragon’s whole body was exposed, Luo Jie was already ready.

“Thorny Sky Wheel!”

This was an attack form unleashed by one of Luo Jie’s spirit talismans. Its name was quite beautiful—Thorny Sky Wheel. It appeared as a flat, blue-colored wheel with countless serrated edges along its circumference, possessing immense power. Luo Jie rarely used such a powerful spirit talisman.

Luo Jie continuously tapped his Life Talisman Book, launching six attacks of Thorny Sky Wheel in a row. Each of these talismans carried the power of sixteen talismans before needing to rest back in the Life Talisman Book.

Six wheels flew out sequentially from the Life Talisman Book, growing larger from small to large, each reaching a diameter of five to six meters, shooting straight at the Earth Dragon’s thick neck.

Guo Shier, who had originally planned to help his master, was stunned upon seeing these wheels. He gasped and thought, “Damn, what is this thing? What kind of talisman can unleash such a powerful attack?”

The wheels whizzed through the air, emitting a shrill screeching sound.

As a mutated talisman beast, the Earth Dragon sensed the danger and desperately tried to move its massive body. Its usually agile body now became a heavy burden. Feeling humiliated, it let out a wild roar filled with defiance and anger.

But the Earth Dragon was at its wits’ end; no matter how it struggled, it couldn’t dodge in time.

Thorny Sky Wheel headed straight for the Earth Dragon’s neck. Guo Shier widened his eyes as he clearly saw the first wheel cutting through like a circular saw, splitting the Earth Dragon’s neck before disappearing. A line of blood appeared on the dragon’s scaled neck. A single Thorny Sky Wheel could only pierce the scales without penetrating further, showing just how hard and thick they were.

Then came the second wheel, the third wheel… When the fourth wheel cut in, the Earth Dragon’s thick scales finally gave way, allowing the wheel to sink deep inside. The fifth wheel fully entered the neck, while the sixth wheel passed through it and emerged from the other side.

Luo Jie let out a sigh of relief. This was one of his most powerful single-target attack talismans. As long as it could break through the Earth Dragon’s defenses, there was no need to worry about failing to kill it. Thankfully, he had this talisman; otherwise, he really wouldn’t know what to do with this Earth Dragon.

The Earth Dragon was severely wounded by the Six Thorned Sky Wheels; it was already on the verge of death, and this final fatal blow made its condition even worse. Its massive body twisted wildly, and its huge tail swung violently, shattering a boulder over ten meters in diameter into pieces.
Qi Nanshan shouted, “Everyone, step back!” With a loud cry, he rushed onto the Earth Dragon’s back, holding a long talisman sword, and swiftly headed for the dragon’s head.